Telephone appliance.



M. P. FLAOK. TELEPHONE APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED DEC..16, 1908.

923,637. Patented June 1, 1909.

INVENTOR mm 9 1400K ET- Cav'iun'i WW ATTORNEYS 'ance's, of which the and exact description. I

device; or inc may do so without others in the-room hearand more'particularl set forth in the claims.

-1g. 3 is ade'tail viewtransmitter can be" used in the ordinary way typge UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' MARCUS P. rLacn, OF NEW YORK; N. Y.

" summons APPLIANCE.

To all who'm it t known that 1,,Maicous P. FLACK, a of the United States, residing at New York,1n the county of New'jYork and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful; Improvements in Telephone A plifollowing is a full, clear,

invention re'latesto appliances for use with telephone transmitters, and has for its chief ob'ec't to Iprovide asimple and effective osing the mouthpiece of the transmitterinsuch manner that while the escape of sound prevented, to the end that a person desiring to use the instrument in .any partof the conversation.

n 'general terms, the invention consists in e novelfeatiires of construction and combinations of elements hereinafter described,

he referred em o'diment of the'invention is ustratedin the annexed drawing, in which: Figure -1 shows the complete device in ver tical longitudinal secgon, applied to a telehonetransmitter. ig. 2 is a front view. showing the air inlet port and the closure for the same. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the annular pneumatic cushion against" which the user rests his face when speaking'into the device.

A telephone 'transmltter of the ordinary is indicated by'A. 4

designates a supporting member made of sheet metal, preferably aluminum, ta ering outwardlyfand havin its smaller en fittin theTim of the tele onemouthpiece O rat or snugly, At its'liase the supporting member has an inwardly extending flange D, having its edge extending under the shoulder at the smaller end of the mouthpiece. To put the-supporting member in place on the Instrument the mouthpiece is unscrewed and its threaded shank thrust through the open ing in the flan c, after which the mouthpiece is screwedbac into position, thereby clampcurely in p are The sound collector andscreen is shown at; E, and consists of a hollow member F, of aluminum, hard rubber, or other suitable material, substantiallyiconical in form, havingat its smaller end a slightly' flaring extension G adapted to fizt tightly the-supporting mem- .flpeoiflcation of Letters Patent. Application filed December 1c, 1908.

made difficult, but

Patented June 1,1909. ,se'na mmmss.

-ber B. The flare ofextension G and the cor-'- responding taper of the supportingmember;

, make it easy to put on the screen, and also tovary the tightness of the .fit and take up wear by sliding the screen farther on toward the head H at the base of the supporting member. As shown, the sound-collector and sound-screen is oval in form at its front, for better conformity to the contour of the face.

At the front or outer edge of the sound 'screenis an. annular pneumatic cushion I,

overhanging the front opening of the screen or collector, and provided with an elastic flange J which fits over the edge of the screen and serves to hold the cushion securely in place. This cushion is also oval in form, and 1s provided with a which it may be inflated. I

For the purpose of admitting air into the interior of the screen while in use, one or more air inlet apertures L,.-L, are rovided each having an external swinging s utter or closure, as M, by which the apertures may be, closed wholly or partially when desired.

The inside of the sound screen is lined with a sheet of celluloid N, terial capable of being sanitary precaution.

. Extending inwardly over the edge of the mouthpiece O, is an annular flap or flange O, of-soft rubber, or other sound deadening or non-acoustic material, held between the lining N and the body of the sound screen, the

purpose of said flap or flange bein to dimin ish the reflection of sound from t e interior or other suitable maeasily kept clean as a suitable valve K through,

of the mouthpiece and to prevent the edge of the'mouthpieoe, and the conne frombeing thrown into vibration by speakin into thedevice. "'flhe method ofusin The user simply laces his face over the cted parts,

g the device is simple.

sound collector an screen, and speaks in the ordmarytone of volce. The nose fits u in the pointed or smaller end of the front 0 the collector, and the soft pneumatic ,cushion makes a fairly close fit with the face, with the result that no articulate sounds can be heard b narily tlie fit between the cushion "and the users face is-not accurate. and close enough to exclude all air, I

if'it should be, orjf'the user desires to speak for'some' time wlthout interruption ione or more of. the "air.- nlet apertures may be opened,'thus' dmittmg air freely, Practical use. .or. the device has other persons in the rooin.- Ordiso; that breathing is not demonstrated that with the air inlets open sound which eseapes'therethrough is too confused or inarticu ate to be understood by a listener.

The sound screen can be readily detached by pulling it ,ofi of the supporting member, leaving the latter in place and in no way 1nterfering with the use of the telephone. The

device is simple in construction and has been found to be thoroughly effective for its purpose;

It is to be understood that the form herein a specifically shown and described is merely the preferred embodiment of the invention, and may be modified as to details of construction without de arture from the roper scope and spirit of t e invention as efined by the a pended claims. 7 What claim is: r

'1. A device of the kind described, comprising a supporting member adapted to encircle the mouthpiece of a telephone transmitter, having a flange adapted to fit under the mouthpiece, whereby the mouthpiece will hold saidmember in position on the transmitter, a sound collector and screen removingmember, an annular cushion at theouter edge of the sound collector and screen adapted to fit closely the face of the s eaker, said collector and screen being providbd with one or more apertures for the admission of air, as set. forth.

3. In a device of the kind described, a su porting member ada ted to encircle the mouthpiece ofa telep lone transmitter, said member being tapered and having at its base an inwardlyextending flange to fit under the.

mouthpiece so as to be securely clamped thereby on the transmitter, and a sound 1 collector and screen having a tubular extension fitting snugly on the tapered supporting member, as set forth.

4. In a device of the kind described, the

- combination with a telephonetransmitter,

of a supporting member encircling the mouth piece 0 the transmitter and terminating substantially at the outer edge thereof, a sound collector and screen detachably fitting the supporting member, and a flange of nonacoustic material projecting inwardly from said screen with its free depending edge in proximity to the outer edge of said mouth piece, said flange being supported by said screen only at the outer periphery of said flange to permit the inner and unsupported edge thereof to extend inwardly beyond the edge of the mouth piece and into the path of sound travel, as set forth.

5. In a device of the kind described, a supporting member adapted to encircle the mouth piece of a telephone transmitter, a

sound collector or screen which at its inner end fits over said supporting member, and

its body portion is formed of substantially conical ape flaring outward from said transmitter; a yielding annular cushion attached at the outer end of said screen and adapted to conform closely to the face of the speaker; with one or more apertures formed in said outer or conical portion of said screen and. leading directly into the inner chamber thereof for the admission of air therewithin, said apertures being provided with closures or shutters for varying the size of the air openings, as set forth.

6. In a device of the kind described, the

combination with a supporting member adapted to encircle the mouthpiece of a tele phone transmitter and having an inwardly extending flange adapted to fit under the mouthpiece, said member being tapered out- Wardly; of a sound screen of substantially conical form having at its smaller end a liar- 'ingextension corresponding to the taper of said supporting member and adapted to fit closely thereon; an annular face cushion overhanging inwardly at the outer periphery of said screen and attached to said screen by an elastic flange fitting over the same; and said screen having air apertures formed therein provided with shutters to vary the size of the air apertures; substantially as and for the purpose described.

, In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARCUS P. FLACK.

Witnesses:

J. B. HAYWARD, M. LAWSON Drum. 

